Today I learned Immaculate Conception doesn't mean what I think it means! Good thing I'm not Catholic.

Cheer up!

November 15th, 1997
Post-Hogwarts
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River opened the showtoday with an introduction, "Today on Potterwatch we are joined by guests Callisto and Echo. Welcome, Ladies!"

"Hello Rapier," Echo greeted.

"Rodent," Callisto coughed.

"It's Rapier."

"Really? I thought your name was Rodent?"

"Echo, can't you control her?"

Fighting the urge to laugh, Echo tried to lend a helping hand. "Callisto," she chided, "be nice. We're here for a reason, not for you to tease Rapier."

"I thought I could do both," Callisto retorted.

"Sorry, I tried," Echo told him with an audible repressed grin.

"Not very hard," Rapier replied, feigning hurt.

"What can I say? She's inconceivably uncontrollable. Couldn't do it if I tried."

"So, what can you tell us?" Saint asked.

"Well, we've found one more use for Rita Skeeter's book on Dumbledore. Booster seats! Is your kid too short to see over something? Just stick this volume under their tush and voilà!" Callisto said with a flourish.

"They also make excellent step stools!" Echo added in cheerfully. "On a more serious note: if you find yourself in trouble with Dementors and you can't cast a Patronus, don't panic, there is a simple solution that should buy you enough time to get away."

"Cheering charms! Dementors will be confused by this charm for a short while, so be sure to get out while the getting is good!" Callisto finished.

"Now, that doesn't mean stop practicing your Patronus and rely on the cheering charm, because only a Patronus will protect you completely," River said before they went off script.

There was a rustle as Saint narrated, "Rapier has slid out of his chair and onto one knee. He takes Echo's fingers in his…"

"Fr-" she began. She tried again "Fr-" She rolled her eyes at herself, and very purposely said, "Rapier. What're you doin'?"

"When I gave you this ring, I didn't get the chance to ask you the question that goes with it."

"We were a little busy."

Callisto chimed in, "Weddings and patronuses and Death Eaters. Oh, my!" They ignored her, but that was ok, this was their moment. "We assure you, folks, this is very real."

"On one knee, Rapier takes her hands and says…" River told their listeners.

"Echo, if you want a big wedding, I will Full-Body bind Mum to keep her out of the way. We will not invite Aunt M, that bespectacled beetle, or anyone else like them. Or, we could just go. You and me, right now. What do you say?"

"She's nodding now," Callisto said and Echo laughed, realizing that she really needed to say yes.

So she did, "Yes, absolutely, yes!"

A ripple of applause went through Callisto, Saint and River.

Saint closed the broadcast, "We're not sure when we'll be back but you can be sure we will be, so keep spinning the dials and the next password is Peverell. That's all for today's special edition of Potterwatch, keep your chins up and keep each other safe."

After the show, Echo and Rapier (coughcough Rodent) had chat about the ring he'd slipped onto her finger at his brother's wedding reception. He explained that he'd written her parents about his intentions and her mother had sent back the ring and its matching band. She declared with a grin that she would kill her parents the next time she saw them as she'd always said she didn't want them to know she was getting married before she knew.

He and George had spent their pre-Hogwarts years learning Muggle Magic, training how to slip handcuffs and pick locks and pockets. He'd slipped the ring on her finger in the confusion before she and Jo had Apparated away. He was perfectly serious about it—as if the on-air proposal hadn't been a clue—and Jo delighted in detailing the discovery, much to Leili's joy and mortification.

After the broadcast, Leili called her sister and had her meet the five of them at a nearby Muggle courthouse and to bring her the fanciest thing in the closet. "I'm getting married!" she squealed.

An hour and a half later, in slacks and a fancy dinner jacket, Fred stood under a be-flowered arch in front of an officiant, as a recorded organ struck up the march.

First down the aisle in jeans and a t-shirt was Jo, hands full of a ring bearer's pillow. Next, escorted by her sister, came Leili in an off-white dress that glittered in the light, her mother's borrowed veil settled over her hair and face.

This ceremony was just for them, one sibling and one friend apiece. No parents, nothing fancy; just them.

They would do it again, later.

After the war.

If they survived.

Kanani took Fred's hand and pressed her sister's into it before taking her place beside Saint as the four of them sat in a semi-circle before the arch.

The officiant spoke, "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the wedding of Fred and Leilani. The wedding ring is a symbol of unity, a circle unbroken, with neither beginning nor end. Today, Fred and Leilani give and receive these rings as demonstrations of their vows to make their life one, to work at all times to create a love that is whole and unbroken, and to love each other without end. Do either of you know of any legal reason that you should not be married, today?"

"I do not."

"I do not."

"If anyone has any objections, speak them now, or forever hold your peace."

No one spoke and the officiant continued, "Fred Gideon Weasley, do you take Leilani Catharine Akina to be your wife? Do you promise you will love her, comfort her, honour and protect her, and, forsaking all others, be faithful to her as long as you both shall live?"

"I do."

"And do you, Leilani Catharine Akina take Fred Gideon Weasley to be your husband? Do you promise you will love him, comfort him, honour and protect him, and, forsaking all others, be faithful to him as long as you both shall live?"

"I do."

"Do you, the families and friends of Fred and Leilani, support and uphold them in their marriage, now and in the years to come?"

"We do."

"Fred and Leilani join hands and make your vows."

Fred took the ring from Jo and recited, "Before these witnesses, I vow to love you and care for you as long as we both shall live. I take you, with all your faults and strengths, as I offer myself to you with all my faults and strengths. I will help you when you need help, and will turn to you when I need help. I choose you as the person with whom I will spend my life. Lei, I take you to be my lawfully wedded wife." He slipped her grandmother's wedding band onto her finger, settling it against the engagement ring.

Leili took the matching ring from George and began, "Before these witnesses, I vow to love you and care for you as long as we both shall live. I take you, with all your faults and strengths, as I offer myself to you with all my faults and strengths. I will help you when you need help, and will turn to you when I need help. I choose you as the person with whom I will spend my life. Fred, I take you to be my lawfully wedded husband." She slid her grandfather's wedding ring onto his fingers, giving his hands a little squeeze.

"Fred and Leilani, in so much as the two of you have agreed to live together in Matrimony, have promised your love for each other by these vows, I now declare you to be Husband and Wife. Congratulations, you may kiss your bride."

Cheers erupted from the small congregation as Fred lifted the front of the veil and kissed his bride.

The judge closed the book and followed the procession out of the little chapel where hugs were exchanged and the new couple headed off to a little room in a nearby hotel that their guests had booked for them.

Leili couldn't stop giggling as Fred led her by the hand through the lobby and up to their room. As soon as the door closed behind them, Leili wrapped her arms around his neck and he lifted her off her feet and kissed her soundly. "I love you," she said into his lips.

"I love you," he said, hugging her close as he carried her to the bed, giddy over their elopement and their quasi-wedding night. He dropped them on the bed, where they stayed, grateful for the chance to pretend for a few hours that the world wasn't falling down around their ears.

She pulled back to look in his face, stroking his freckled cheek adoringly. "So this is probably the wrong time to ask, but how do you feel about babies?"

He quirked a charming grin at her, "I've got two younger siblings, I'm good with babies."

"I'm the youngest so I've got no experience with them. But do you want them?"

"You're not pregnant are you?" he asked, half seriously.

"Not unless it's a virginal conception, dummy," she snorted. "…I just…" she sighed, free hand going comb back through her hair. "I love you, Fred and I'm glad we did this, y'know, getting married now, even if it is going to piss our parents off royally… But… with everything happening…"

Fred figured out what she was trying to say, "You're scared," he realized.

"Is that terrible of me?" she asked, looking away.

He ran a hand over her cheek, bringing her face back to meet his eyes, "If it's terrible of you, then it's terrible of me, too. Especially now, when we don't know what's going to happen. We might, neither of us, survive this war. That's part of why I asked you to marry me when I did, I don't want to lose you and live the rest of my life regretting that we didn't get to have at least this much time."

Tears pricked at Leilani's eyes, she pressed her lips together to keep them from trembling. "I love you, Fred Gideon Weasley."

"I love you too, Leilani Catharine Akina."

"Ah-ah, It's Akina-Weasley now!" She teased, tears slipping down her cheeks.

Fred laughed and swiped the tears away with his thumbs, "Right!"